Wall St financiers party like there's no tomorrow -- literally

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 12/5/08 | Sebastian Smith

[NormsRevenge]

NEW YORK (AFP) – The hedge fund dealers partied at a New York nightclub like there was no tomorrow -- which for some was probably true.

Swilling martinis and vodkas, they filled Manhattan's white, tent-themed Nikki Beach to bursting. Waiters, trays of tapas held high in the air, became stranded, wedged into crowds swaying to music under pink lights.

About 650 guests attended the event late Wednesday, a third more than organizers expected.

Yet with hedge funds in freefall, this was more funeral wake than celebration.

"The industry is down 20 percent. It's by far the worst environment we've ever seen and we'll see a lot of funds going out of business," said Evan Rapoport, co-founder of HedgeCo Networks, which services hedge funds and organized the party.

The evening was billed as a networking session. Sometimes that meant angling for a particularly special deal.

"A lot of people are looking for a job," said Nicole Alexander from Ovation Group, a corporate travel company.

[NormsRevenge]

A Wall Street sign is seen against the backdrop of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City. Job losses across Wall Street are forecast by New York state accountants to hit 48,000 by the end of next year. Hedge funds, which have long prided themselves on their resilience, are reeling. (AFP/File/Stan Honda)

[jeffc]

Don't none of you all fret! The 0ne (zero) is warming up his "Here I came to save the day!" song . . . .

(I hope he wears the Mighty Mouse uniform)

[ZULU]

NO tax payer dollars should go to bail out these defective institutions - on Wall Street or in Detroit.

Let teh cleansing action of the marketplace fix things.

[VOA]

Let them eat caviar!
...BUMP!

[Clintonfatigued]

There is a culture of entitlement in corporate America, and the rest of the nation is paying for it.

[LomanBill]

>>Swilling martinis and vodkas, they filled Manhattan's white, tent-themed Nikki Beach to bursting.

 

Let's buy them all a round of Tar and Feathers.   Can't have them running around in Naked Shorts after the bars close can we?

 

 

 

What will the children think? (and that is a serious question)

[Broker]

Say what you will but there are still honorable brokers.

[LomanBill]

>>Say what you will but there are still honorable brokers.

And what did these honorable brokers do to clean up the systemic corruption around them?

[Broker]

What a few honorable brokers did not do, was to sell any of their CRAPPY paper. Your saddly ignorant bitter broad brush of retrobution is nearly as accurate as my spelling. Sorry things suck. You had a lousy broker.

[classified]

For 10 years and 17 floors above the ground that was the view out of my kitchen area window. Cold in the winter and a beautiful scene of the Wall Street Christmas Tree. Now here in sunny and sometimes not so sunny Florida, I think back and wonder do I miss that view?

[LomanBill]

>>What a few honorable brokers did not do,
>>was to sell any of their CRAPPY paper.

Too few, apparently. But perhaps an example that should be followed.

Any of these brokers written books or articles that describe these altruistic actions?

>>You had a lousy broker.

Did I? So you presume.

Individuals, and their choices, enable or stop corruption.

The implosion of Wall Street speaks for itself.

Got FICO?

[Broker]

Brokers are under PHENOMENAL legal restraint. Restrictions on public contact are absolute. The only way you will find an honest broker is via referral...

[durasell]

When was Wall Street ever known for its altruism? It’s a street that begins in a graveyard and ends in a river, ‘nuff said.

[LomanBill]

>>Brokers are under PHENOMENAL legal restraint.

 

Apparently not enough to prevent subprime A$$Paper from poisoning the global financial pond.

 

Ever watch "The smartest guys in the room"?  Among other things, that documentary presents audio from the Enron trading floor; of traders conversing with the operators of Southern California power facilities - and essentially telling them to shut down - thus creating the fake 2001 So.Cal "Energy Crisis" and manipulate energy prices.   It also had audio of those traders laughing to each other about the people they destroyed.  "Surivial of the fittest" or some such nonsense.

 

Where was the "PHENOMENAL legal restraint" on the Enron Floor?  Not built into the Enron trading systems, apparently.

 

So, know any good brokers for Tar and Feather futures?

[LomanBill]

>>When was Wall Street ever known for its altruism?

Or its honesty.

Now, about those “honorable” brokers.

Documented examples please?

Michael Milken wrote a book... surely there must be more honorable examples than that?

[LomanBill]

>>Brokers are under PHENOMENAL legal restraint.

 

 

 

 

==================================================================

During the House Financial Services Full Committee Hearing on "Recent Events in the Credit and Mortgage Markets and Possible Implications for U.S. Consumers and the Global Economy",  Chairman Barney Frank left the hearing in order to attend a meeting in support of legislation that would force American employers to hire homosexuals.   That says a lot about Barney's priorities.

 

Barney "Fife" Frank.

Financial Services Watchdog

 

This watchdog only has one tooth.

Barney's boyfriend makes him keep it in his pocket

==================================================================

 

"PHENOMENAL" isn't the adjective I'd use.   Facetious, maybe.

 

Wall Street would be filled with criminals these days.... if it weren't so lawless.

[LomanBill]

>>Say what you will but there are still honorable brokers.

 

Then they need to speak up and alter the course being set by negative inertia; the negative inertia rooted in the general perception that the finance industry has become irreversibly corrupted.

 

 

Unless these allegedly honorable folks make themselves visible, perception will not change.  

 

 

Daddy, what did you do in the war?

[durasell]

Wall Street is an adult environment. Brokers are essentially sales people and typically have little or no real understanding of how the markets work.

The bottomline: If you want to deal with honest people, then select an environment where large amounts of money are not at stake.

[LomanBill]

[The bottomline: If you want to deal with honest people, then select an environment where large amounts of money are not at stake.]

 

Not so long ago, I knew a retired police officer that ran security for a local Casino before his health made him retire from that as well.

 

I think it's fair to say there were large amounts of money involved; and, despite his flaws, including the inability to end the tobacco addiction that killed him, I've never met a man more worthy of my trust.   His friends and co-workers, who I was privilidged to grow up around, were much the same.

 

 

 

Do you work with large amounts of money?  Are you not to be trusted?  Is that what you were trying to say?